Hello my lovely readers!
I was hesitant to read this at first, since I'm not typically a fan of biography novels. But I'm glad I gave this one a shot. Let's get into it!
SYNOPSIS
Harlem, 1943. At just twenty-three, Hazel Scott is a woman on fire. A jazz prodigy, a glamorous film star, and a fierce advocate for civil rights, she's breaking barriers and refusing to play by the rules. Then Adam Clayton Powell Jr. walks into her life. Harlem's most electrifying preacher-turned-politician, Adam is as bold and unyielding as Hazel--charismatic, powerful...and married.
This kicks off a decades-long relationship that propels them into the center of a political and cultural revolution. As Hazel's star rises, Adam takes the national stage in Congress and the couple becomes the toast of the country. But when their affair turns into a marriage, behind the glamorous façade is a battlefield of ego, ambition, and sacrifice. Forced to choose between her music and her family, Hazel must decide what she's willing to lose--and what she refuses to give up.
MY THOUGHTS
I enjoyed this book well enough. This fell into the same vein as Harlem Rhapsody in it being a biographical novel. I wasn't a fan of Harlem Rhapsody at all, due to the fact that the author focused so much on the romance aspect of Jessie Redmon Fauset versus everything else she achieved.
However, with this novel, I think Tate did a great job on making sure that the readers knew who Hazel Scott was as a woman beyond her marriage to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. I like that we got to see her as a pianist, a friend, a single woman in Paris and a mother. It gave a fuller scope of who Hazel Scott was in a way that honored her.
Now, I must read her biography!
No comments:
Post a Comment